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Comment by jdavis703 | Hacker News Reader

Unless it’s patentable, there’s no economic incentive for any one farmer or farm conglomerate to invest in this research. It would require government or non-profit research. And in a world of scarce resources, funding research on a luxury food item would strike many as a waste of taxes or philanthropic funds.

(I’m not saying it’s wasteful, learning the secrets of truffle reproduction could unlock a new branch of scientific study. Just explaining why this is.)

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Just make it a trade secret? A patent is basically making it public in exchange for a guaranteed, albeit short term, exclusive right. Why not just let only a few know and keep it secret from everyone else?

That's the current situation.

When they say, "nobody knows" it means that nobody who does know is talking.

Well, if it was a trade secret then we still wouldn't know... so maybe it is?

If there was a reliable trade secret, then there would probably be farmers producing outsized yields. Hiding the total production per acre would be difficult in such a top end product where consumers frequently tour the farm.

Edible foraged mushroom markets are surprisingly opaque. The foragers are unlikely to give anything more than a vague notion of where they find their stuff in my experience.

It wouldn’t surprise me at all to learn that there are people that have figured out how to increase yields in the wild or simulate correct growing conditions

People talk, if it’s not patentable it would be pretty hard to prove that one of the salaried researchers new truffle farm business is a trade secret.

Lots of businesses have successfully kept trade secrets for decades, many very famous and gigantic company's recipes are trade secrets. Companies know that if they patent it, it will be in the public domain eventually, whereas trade secrets can stay secret indefinitely, theoretically.

That would be an easy criminal case. Trade secrets arguably are better protected by the law than patents for certain types of knowledge.

GoreTex and Coke are still secrets.

Coke's secret is marketing, and to a lesser extent being able to use coca leaves due to historical reasons.

The vast number of off brand cola and waterproof fabric products would seem to imply that marketing is the operative force rather than the secret recipe.

Knock off Coke that tastes just as good would surely hit at it’s dominance - you’d end up with a levelled playing field more like wine is.

Meh, I don't think I agree that they don't taste just as good (at least some of them). Really feels like it's just marketing.

> Knock off Coke that tastes just as good would surely hit at it’s dominance

Coke is all about marketing not the taste.

Goretex is absolutely not a trade secret. It's stretched PTFE (aka ePTFE).

There is incentive to discover but not to share.

Sonoma county is right next to US Davis which is big on agriculture research.

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